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Germany sets car registration fees by ordinance. Four authorities still publish four different numbers

The fee for registering a car is fixed in federal law. We pulled the published lists of four German licensing offices anyway — and the counter costs roughly double what the online route does.

Meridians Technik-Redaktion

Published 25 August 2026 · Updated 25 August 2026 · 6 min read

Germany sets car registration fees by ordinance. Four authorities still publish four different numbersAutomotive
Photo: Foto von Erik Mclean / Pexels (Pexels-Lizenz — kostenlos nutzbar, Nennung rechtlich nicht erforderlich (oben dennoch angegeben).)

The short answer

  • Germany's online vehicle registration route (i-Kfz) costs 12.80 euros to register a car and 2.10 euros to deregister one, according to the fee tables published by the Kassel district and the Main-Kinzig district.
  • At the counter, the Hochtaunus district lists new registration from 30.00 euros and the Segeberg district around 35 euros — both state explicitly that these are base amounts only.
  • The only figures identical everywhere are the add-ons: 10.20 euros for a custom plate number, 2.60 euros to reserve one.
  • The physical plates are in none of these fees.

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In Germany, what a vehicle registration costs is not set by a company. It is set by a federal ordinance — the Gebührenordnung für Maßnahmen im Straßenverkehr (GebOSt), whose fee schedule sits in an annex with numbered items. You would therefore expect one number, everywhere. There isn't one. We pulled four licensing authorities that publish their own figures, and what follows is only what they actually print.

Online: the fees that fell on 1 September 2023

On 1 September 2023 the recast Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung took effect, bringing stage 4 of internet-based vehicle registration (i-Kfz). The federal transport ministry's briefing on i-Kfz states that registration, deregistration and re-registration can now be completed entirely online, and that a vehicle registered this way may be driven immediately. The Kassel district published the fee change as a before-and-after table, with the ordinance's item numbers attached.

  • Registration and re-registration, online (GebOSt 221.1.1) — 12.80 euros — previously 27.90 euros (Kassel district; the Main-Kinzig district lists the same figure)
  • Transfer from another district with a new plate, online (GebOSt 221.2.1) — 12.10 euros — previously 28.20 euros (Kassel and Main-Kinzig districts)
  • Deregistration, online (GebOSt 224.2) — 2.10 euros — previously 5.70 euros (Kassel district; the Main-Kinzig district lists the same 2.10 euros under item 224.1)
  • Transfer within the same district keeping the plate, online (GebOSt 221.8.1) — 10.40 euros (Main-Kinzig district)
  • Transfer from outside keeping the plate, online (GebOSt 221.9.1) — 9.90 euros (Main-Kinzig district)
  • Transfer within the same district with a new plate, online (GebOSt 221.10.1) — 12.40 euros (Main-Kinzig district)
  • Day registration, online (GebOSt 221.1.3) — 14.90 euros (Main-Kinzig district)
  • Change of keeper address, online (GebOSt 225.1) — 4.30 euros (Main-Kinzig district)

At the counter: two offices, the same procedures, different numbers

Both authorities below publish lists, and both say plainly that these are base amounts. The Hochtaunus district notes that its figures cover „only the base fee for the respective type of registration“. The Segeberg district frames its numbers as approximations.

  • Hochtaunus district (as of 1 September 2023) — new registration from 30.00 euros, change of plate from 27.60 euros, transfer with an out-of-district plate and change of keeper from 27.10 euros, day registration from 45.90 euros, short-term plate from 12.80 euros, export plate from 34.00 euros
  • Hochtaunus district, deregistration — from 15.90 euros at the counter, from 2.70 euros online
  • Segeberg district (as of 31 December 2025) — new registration or transfer without an existing plate around 35 euros, transfer keeping the plate around 28 euros, re-registration with a retained plate around 25 euros

The items that are identical everywhere

The revealing part is where the lists agree. It is the add-ons, which the fee schedule fixes as flat amounts and which therefore leave no discretion.

  • Custom plate number — 10.20 euros — identical at Hochtaunus and Segeberg
  • Reserving a plate number in advance — 2.60 euros — identical at both
  • Custom plate number with advance reservation — 12.80 euros (Hochtaunus district)
  • Low-emission zone sticker — 5.00 euros including 19 percent VAT (Hochtaunus district); it is the only line on that list showing VAT at all
  • Recording WLTP data on a new registration — 5.00 euros (Segeberg district)
  • Changing technical data — 10.20 euros (Segeberg district); Hochtaunus lists technical changes from 11.70 euros

Why the same act of administration costs different amounts

Three reasons sit inside the lists themselves. First, almost every counter figure is prefixed „from“: the fee schedule works in ranges, and the office sets an amount within the range according to effort. Second, a registration is rarely a single fee item — assigning a plate, issuing the registration certificate, entries and disbursements stack up, and depending on what an authority folds into its headline „new registration“, it lands on 30 euros or on 35. Third, the documents carry different dates: Hochtaunus states 1 September 2023, Segeberg 31 December 2025.

Ten days on a sheet of paper

Register online and you receive a provisional registration certificate. The Kassel district states the rule tersely: the certificate must be displayed visibly in the vehicle, and driving is then permitted for 10 calendar days within Germany. That is the practical change from the old regime — waiting for the papers no longer immobilises the car. Using the portal does require the prerequisites the individual states describe on their own portal pages; the federal ministry explicitly refers applicants there.

What none of these numbers includes

The plates themselves. The Segeberg district spells it out in its overview: plate blanks are not included. They are bought from a private stamping service, and that price is not a statutory fee but a market price. Anyone estimating the true cost of registering a car adds the administrative fee, the plates, and — if wanted — the custom number and its reservation.

Sources

Every factual claim above is traceable to these documents. Check them — that is why they are here.

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Meridians Technik-Redaktion is an editorial desk at Meridians, not an individual. A desk byline means the article was produced and fact-checked to that desk's published standards. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy.

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